Cops arrest teen in murder of South Dade security guard

At age 16, Quintin Vicks and two pals broke into a woman’s South Miami-Dade apartment, robbed her at gunpoint and left her tied up in the bathroom.

Although he was charged as an adult, Vicks did not complete any significant jail time. Instead, a Miami-Dade judge last September ruled him “delinquent” as a minor and sentenced him to probation until age 22.

Vicks was trouble-free until Monday – when he appeared in bond court, charged as one of four men who ambushed a security guard as the man made his nightly rounds at a South Miami-Dade apartment complex.

Miami-Dade police say Vicks, now 18, was the getaway driver for a group of youths who fired more than a dozen rounds into the car of Robert Nelson, a guard for 50 State Security. Mortally wounded, Nelson, 48, lost control of the company car and it crashed into a daycare. His bloodied body was pulled out and the assailants stripped him of his firearm and property.

Witnesses called 911 and a Miami-Dade patrol officer quickly found Vicks running through the parking lot trying to get to the getaway car. On him, according to a police report: Nelson’s ID card, credit card and stolen cash.

Witnessed identified Vicks as one of the robbers and he confessed to his role in the planned robbery, according to the arrest report by Miami-Dade homicide Detective Rich Raphael.

Police charged him with first-degree murder and armed robbery. He is being held without bond.

Vicks was also charged with possession of marijuana and the amphetamine known as “Molly.”

The baby-faced teen was supposed to appear in court later this month, to update the court on his probation on the 2011 robbery case and another aggravated assault with a firearm conviction.

A previous judge, Lisa Walsh, adjudicated him as a “high risk” juvenile and he was sent to live a secure residential juvenile program. Vicks spent at least eight months there before he did well enough to be released to his mother’s home, while under the supervision of Florida’s Department of Juvenile Justice.

The department submitted regular reports on Vicks’ progress.

Investigators still are hunting for the others involved in Saturday’s murder.

Nelson, a security supervisor who lived in Miami Gardens, had worked with Miami-based 50 State since February 2012.

“Robert Nelson was a valued and trusted member of the 50 State Security team, and we are all heartbroken with this tragedy,” the company said in a statement. “Our thoughts and prayers are with Robert’s family and friends.”

Nelson graduated from Norland High and Bethune-Cookman University, family said.